As the Islamic State becomes a growing topic of national discussion, three UF professors hosted a public conversation on the issue Wednesday.
The Bob Graham Center for Public Service held the ISIS and the Question of Islamic Militancy panel in Pugh Hall.
The professors offered different perspectives on the violent actions of ISIS and other Islamic militant groups.
Panelist Terje Østebø, an assistant professor with UF’s Center for African Studies and the Department of Religion, spoke first about ISIS trying to establish religious purity.
“What we’re seeing is enforcement of this purity now with very violent means,” Østebø said.
He said ISIS claiming to be a religious movement is something to be taken seriously.
About 50 people attended the ISIS discussion.
At the panel, Matthew Jacobs, an associate professor in the UF Department of History, suggested ISIS should be seen as a problem stemming from years of political chaos in that region.
Panelist Leonardo Villalón, the International Center dean, expressed similar concerns during the discussion.
“We need to ask ourselves, what are the conditions that are provoking people to join these kinds of movements?” Villalón said.
Audience members were encouraged to make their own points and pose questions at the end of the panel.
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 10/23/2014]
UF African studies and political science professor Leonardo Villalón speaks at the ISIS and the Question of Islamic Militancy panel discussion in Pugh Hall Ocora on Wednesday evening.
